Sheepdip, XOM/CVX just had a big dip today. This is where you find the value, and buy and/or average down. Not all of the positions of a DGI investor are all over-valued (or under-valued) at the same time. 4 years ago it was JNJ that got no love. I loaded up then.... HSY took a brief dip a couple of weeks ago, and bought a little back then. Dividend ETFs don't allow you the flexibility of buying the best, when on sale.

In my opinion, dividend ETFs are a basket of 'meh'... I created my own basket of 'awesome'....

Coca-Cola Set For Growth Going Forward As Investors Continue To Be Rewarded By The Stock [View article]

Uncle, soda, cigs, booze, Mac-n-cheese, ice cream.... Where do YOU draw the line on moral investing?? For morals/conscience I go to church... When it comes to my kids education and my retirement, I go to DGI Stocks.... If there's a moral stock that's as good/stable/reliable I'm all ears....

The author lost all credibility when suggested the dividend could be in trouble within the year... Mcd does have problems, but it is still a FCF beast with time to fix its problems (like 2002)... Mcd is the best at cost containment. Who has the fiscal DNA to survive if/when the $15 an hour wage dummies get their way? I wouldn't think shake shack could deal with this potential headwind better than mcd... Author sounds like hes shorting mcd.....

I've been a little rattled w/ MCD over the past few months. Then again, I was rattled when JNJ was going through their recall issues a few years ago, and they came out alright.... I won't be adding to my position, but will be watching closely what goes down in the next year.

Moon, I didn't know SZYM had ever made 'a commitment' to clean energy. I do know that they are trying to make $$ (like every other company).... Their scope initially fell within fuel oil, and they quickly realized the low margins couldn't initially sustain it early existence....

The 'consensus of scientists' are on the dole. They get paid by their masters to give them the opinion they want......Follow the $$. Fudging #'s (Email-gate, East Anglia 'hide the decline'), whining about FOI requests, and destroying base data may be at odds with your opinion that man is actually responsible for majority of the increased levels of CO2... BTW, I give credit for Musk to make a buck by making an electric vehicle. I also have no problem w/ the gov't subsidizing innovation (better batteries, etc).....But don't 'deny' that the chemicals/resources needed for those batteries, and the creation of the 'zero emission' electricity has an ecological price to pay as well.

Why did the author conveniently omit that much of KOs wealth generation lies in its distribution? Or the fact it's been paying increasing dividends. (To the time of 8-10% annual increases) for the last 40+ years? Or that they are slowly diversifying into water/juice/health/energy drinks? Or that Dr Pepper relies on KO for its own product distribution? Another hit piece by a FUD dud....

I think the author brings up a great point. It forces you (or reminds you) how you would react to a 30-50% correction. Half of the battle is choosing at least 15 of the correct 'core' holdings, and not buying at overvalued prices. The 2nd half of the battle is having the resolve to not sell, or at least not sell till a dividend it cut.

If you have only 8 blue-chip stocks, and 2 get wiped out, would you be OK with that? If not, you may want to plan on diversifying into more stocks to be prepared, so the GE's of the next downturn will nick you, instead of gut you...

Do you have many non-blue chips paying a (currently) sweet dividend? How would these get affected by the downturn. Sure your diversified, but are too many of them non-blue-chip?

It's a good article to make you think. Definitely not bashing DGI strategy....

bmcip... Google 'dividend growth investing' (ie, "DGI"), 'david fish' and his list of 'dividend aristocrats, champions and challengers. Also check out a contributor called chowder. All of this info is under your nose, here on SA.... I also like authors Tim McAleenan... Good luck....

DGI is not a 'set in stone' definition in long-term investing, and there are no 'hard rules', but it basically means investing in blue-chip stocks who have an uninterrupted history of 10, 15, 20+ years of dividends that grow every year. Some reinvest/drip the dividends. Some take the dividend proceeds and initiate new positions, or add to their existing positions based on P/E, or other models of value. Some like companies w/ low yield, but high growth of the yield each year (ie KO, HSY), while some like a high yield w/ low dividend growth ("T"). Some have a blend between the two. If they are later in life, many choose more stocks w/ higher yield for income; if they are younger (20s-50s) still in the accumulation phase, many will have more low-yield, high growth, and allow time to really allow the compounding effect to work its magic.......... Hope this helps...

PM gets sued, JNJ gets sued, CVX gets sued. All large blue chips, along with companies big and small get sued. I get the contrarian point you are trying to make, but at the end of the day, KMI is going to get paid for decades on its "toll road" business model, that is insulated from energy price swings.... Unless you are retired, bonds are a lousy way to grow wealth....

Bonds offer no capital appreciation whatsoever. Bonds offer no annual yield growth. Long term bonds gets handed to them if inflation heats up, lowering purchasing power. If you are young and in the capital accumulation/growth phase of your life, bonds are a horrible choice. Bonds do make more sense once retired, and you want to preserve wealth.